The Department of Community Development, Abu Dhabi has announced that it will support Indian start-ups working in the field of mental well-being through its social incubator and accelerator programme, Ma’an. A total of 10 start-ups will be selected this year for the incubation, funding, business support through this programme based on their contribution in the segment.
Ma’an will invest more than Rs 3 crore in each cycle and the successful applicants will join a 90-day incubator or accelerator programme and have access to milestone-based funding, mentorship, office space, business expertise and investors. The aim, according to the authorities, is to promote the mental well-being of the Abu Dhabi residents by working on the innovative ideas put forth by successful entrepreneurs.
“Mental well-being has become an increasingly important issue across the world and on average one in four people will suffer a mental health difficulty at some point in their lives. It impacts the way people think, feel, behave and make decisions. Abu Dhabi is no different and it is essential that we begin a conversation to understand the support communities need to cope with mental well-being challenges.
Ensuring that our community has access to the right services is vital and we want to encourage new social enterprises to come forward with solutions that will help people address their mental well-being challenges. We are looking for talented, enthusiastic, creative people with ideas that are unique and sustainable. Our hope is that by supporting these ventures, we can make a impact on this social issue in Abu Dhabi,” said Salama Al Ameemi, DG, Ma’an.
Applications for applying to the programme will be open till February 8, 2020. The 10 shortlisted start-ups will have an opportunity to transform their ideas/business models into ventures by means of receiving training via a series of workshops. It will require firms to transfer their bases to Abu Dhabi for which the housing and other monthly stipends will be incurred by the Abu Dhabi government.